Château
de la Tuilerie (Review 1 of 1)
The vineyards
here have fat stones under the vines, which help to keep the vines warm. The
rows are oriented to the north because it is so hot at their location. They
plant grass in the row middles in order to protect the soil and insects -
she said that it was a sort of IPM program for them. The soil is not very fertile
for them, but some vine canes can still reach up to 5 meters in length. Some
of the Syrah in the vineyard is 45 years old, but most has been regrafted to
a better clone. The Grenache is old (but not strong), but she doesn't
much care for Grenache anyhow. The average day temperatures are between 25 and
30°C, with night temperatures at about 18°C. This past harvest continued
until October 10, which was very late for them. During harvest, the grapes are
picked into bins, and the receiving area is outside next to the vineyard. The
grapes are sorted on a conveyor that carries the fruit to the presses inside
the winery.
She
did not speak much about their fermentation practices at the winery, but it
looked to me like they mostly used concrete tanks for the fermentation. They
also had an interesting and innovative method of moving and stacking full aging
barrels. The full barrels could be suspended from a track which could move the
barrel to any other part of the room, using a remote control (similar to the
machines that eat your quarters and you try to get the metal claw to grab a
cheap watch or teddy bear). She said that they don't use any American oak because
the taste is too strong.
The grape
varieties that are considered AOC are Marsanne, Roussane, Grenache Blanc, Clairette,
Grenache, and Syrah. The vin de pays varieties are Viognier, Merlot, and Cabernet
Sauvignon.
Annually,
they produce 1 million bottles of wine and export 60%. So far, this was the
most commercialized winery that we visited, with extensive tasting room merchandise.
Château
La Nerthe (Review 1 of 1)
This vineyard
has a total of 90 hectares that are organically farmed. They chose to farm organically,
not for the ability to print 'organic' on their labels, but because they feel
that the wines taste better. The original plantings were in 1560, with few of
those vines remaining. The first vineyards replanted in 1875 with rootstock
consisted of Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache. For rootstocks, they use 110R,
3309, and Reparia, depending upon the soil type. The largest vineyard problem
now is Esca, with 2% dead vines each year.
In
addition to Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache, they also grow Cinsault, Clairette,
Bourboulenc, Roussane, and Grenache Blanc. For the Châteauneuf du Pape
designation they can use any percentage of these varieties in their blends,
but usually 50-70% is made up of Grenache. In addition, the maximum vine density
that is allowed is 4000 vines/hectare at 8-12 clusters per vine. They train
their vines on the goblet system, which they find is best for photosynthesis,
but not for Botrytis reduction (the appellation does not allow for more than
5% Botrytis rot). As an organic farm, they are permitted to spray 6 K/hectare
of copper sulfate per year. Recently, they have been experimenting with biodynamic
farming on 7 hectares of grapes. So far they have noticed a reduction in the
pH at harvest, but no reduction of vine vigor. The main difference they've found
though is in the amount of extractable phenols and anthocyanins. In general
over the years, they have found that the potassium in the soil affects the wine
pH, so they routinely use compost instead of chemical fertilizers.
At harvest,
their picking parameters include TA, pH, sugars and polyphenols (including tannins
and the extractability of tannins, measured with a spectrophotometer). They
destem and cool to 15°C and let the natural yeast start the fermentation
(usually after 1-2 days). Once in the cellar, they use the punch down technique
(once a day) on their reds and allow them to ferment at 30-36°C. They like
the large cask-like tanks for fermentation because the must temperature will
not fluctuate so quickly. The price of this temperature control - $25K each.
Extended maceration is conducted for 6-12 days, monitored closely daily by frequent
tasting. Shortly after fermentation the blends are constructed and the wine
is aged.
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